1 Corinthians 6 - 7:9

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
Series: 1 Corinthians (Acts)

Rusty's Notes

Review:

• In Chapter 5 Paul was dealing with the difficult issue of incest that had been accepted not only by society but also the Church.
• The church at Corinth was rapidly losing its testimony in the city.
• Not only did the unsaved know about the immorality in the assembly, but they were also aware of the lawsuits involving members of the church.[1]
  
  

LAWSUITS AMONG BELIEVERS
1 CORINTHIANS 6
1 If any of you has a dispute against another, how dare you take it to court before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 2 Or don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the trivial cases? 3 Don’t you know that we will judge angels—how much more matters of this life?

• This in reference to a judgment to come.
• This final judgment is way more important than the trivial matters you are dealing with here.
• If they are going to be able to do the future judgment, surely they can figure out a way to deal with these trivial issues without suing.

4 So if you have such matters, do you appoint as your judges those who have no standing in the church? 5 I say this to your shame! Can it be that there is not one wise person among you who is able to arbitrate between fellow believers?

• Paul is questioning about taking their matters to a secular world rather than dealing with them inside the church where there are common beliefs and standards.

6 Instead, brother goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers!

• Most likely a territorial dispute between Christian brothers.
• These lawsuits weren’t for the purpose of receiving money as much as they were to publicly shame others.
• This was a society that pride and shame were more important than financial prosperity.
• The wealthy would often sue other wealthy people and many times the poor.
• The poor were never allowed to sue the wealthy.

7 As it is, to have legal disputes against one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves do wrong and cheat—and you do this to brothers and sisters!

• “Well, because I don’t get any justice that way.”
• Bingo! The gospel is not about entitlement.
• It’s not about demanding one’s rights; it’s about relinquishing them for the sake of others.
• Nothing is said in this passage about complaint with a non-Christian.
• Nothing is said in this passage about defending the rights of others, even other believers who have been wronged.
• Those may be very appropriate processes and priorities.
• But if the sole purpose of initiating litigation is for my own benefit and to put someone else down, the lost world recognizes that when we do it in their system, and there’s no way that the gospel ministry is advanced.[2]
• But doesn’t that make us a “doormat” to society and to one another?
• I wouldn’t exactly call Jesus, who came to serve, wash feet, heal the broken and literally lay down His life for the world as a doormat.

 

• The church at Corinth was rapidly losing its testimony in the city.
• Not only did the unsaved know about the immorality in the assembly, but they were also aware of the lawsuits involving members of the church.

9 Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom?

• “Unrighteous”, “evil doers”, “wicked”, “unjust”, “Those who do wrong” – Noun
• There are those who make a profession of faith, and yet continue to live for years, perhaps their entire life, not struggling against sin, not making spiritual progress and growing in holiness, but having lapses, and at times even serious lapses, maybe a period of backsliding.
• But there are others who seemingly make a profession of faith, but from the perspective of outsiders, it never seems to create change—lasting, substantial change.[3]
• When Paul uses a noun, not a verb that refers to one action or series of actions, but he uses a noun—those who are “evildoers” would be another way of translating “wrongdoers”—that this is the term that defines their life, that that is inconsistent with a profession of faith that would lead to inheriting God’s kingdom, living reconciled with God in this life, and with God and His people for all eternity.[4]
• Have you ever thought about your lifestyle and how it defines you? What the world judges you by.
• Bill Gates, Mel Gibson, Ellen, Amy Coney Barrett, LeBron James, Peyton Manning, King David, Job, Rusty Kennedy.
• What defines you?

Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, 10 no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.

• this is their characteristic lifestyle.
• Verses 9–11, in short, teach that the consistently wicked are not Christians.
• We need to love people trapped in these lifestyles, but we cannot celebrate, we cannot justify it.
• We cannot say it’s consistent with God’s words or with His desires for humanity.
• And much of this is because, for the first time in human history, our generation has turned sexual expression into a right, rather than the privilege.
• Most of these issues Paul has listed stemmed from pride.
• Wanting more than they are given.
• The theme of simply wanting what I want, when I want it, how I want it, without thought for others, without any sense of delayed gratification, in flagrant violation of God’s laws and principles[5]

11 And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

• Clarifying their identity in Christ at this point.
• Holy, sanctified – set apart from the rest of the wicked world.

 
GLORIFYING GOD IN BODY AND SPIRIT
12 “Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything.

• This is where the grace message gets distorted.
• Paul’s message was one that cleared them from following Mosaic Law (God’s Law).
• God’s Law was used as a tutor to show people that they needed a Savior.
• You can make a list of sins (wrong doings) and identify that all have sinned.
• As Gentiles, you were never even placed under God’s Laws even though we can read about them.
• But now, as believers, you have been transformed into a new creation.
• He removed your old stone heart and replaced it with a heart of flesh.
• Your dead spirit has been made alive with the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.
• You have the Spirit of God living in you…
• He guides you, He matures you, He gives you faith, He produces fruit in you.
• You no longer are defined by a list of sins.
• You are defined by your walk… by the Spirit or according to the flesh.
• Yah… your free. You can do whatever you want.
• But if you chose to walk by the flesh, it is probably not going to beneficial for you.
• As Christians, we must ask ourselves, “Will this enslave me? Is this activity really profitable for my spiritual life?”[6]

13 “Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will do away with both of them. However, the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

• Many believed in dualism – the body is evil and the soul is good.
• Therefore, what we do with the body is one thing and what we do with the soul is another.
• They treated sex as an appetite to be satisfied and not as a gift to be cherished and used carefully.
• Sensuality is to sex what gluttony is to eating; both are sinful and both bring disastrous consequences.
• Just because we have certain normal desires, given by God at Creation, does not mean that we must give in to them and always satisfy them.
• Sex outside of marriage is destructive, while sex in marriage can be creative and beautiful.[7]
• Bank – Rob it – take what is not yours or invest and receive dividends.

14 God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not!

• Prostitution, taken for granted by most in the Greek and Roman world with very much of a double standard.
• Women couldn’t do it, but men could, even along with having a legally married wife to raise up legitimate heirs for the family.[8]
• Paul once again declares that “license to sin” is not what he is teaching.

16 Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh., 17 But anyone joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

• When a man and woman join their bodies, the entire personality is involved.
• There is a much deeper experience, a “oneness” that brings with it deep and lasting consequences.

18 Flee sexual immorality! Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body.

• Paul warned that sexual sin is the most serious sin a person can commit against his body, for it involves the whole person.
• Sex is not just a part of the body.
• Being “male” and “female” involves the total person.
• Therefore, sexual experience affects the total personality.[9]
• Non-Christian psychologists and sociologists have demonstrated that the more sexual partners a person has, the harder it becomes to form and sustain any kind of human intimacy, even should one later choose to.[10]

19 Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.[11]

• In a culture of consumerism and entitlement, where we’re bombarded with messages daily telling us we deserve x, we need to treat ourselves to y, we need to remind ourselves that from God’s perspective most of those statements are false.[12]

 
PRINCIPLES OF MARRIAGE
1 CORINTHIANS 7
1 Now in response to the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”

• In light of the “sexual culture” that dominated the Greek & Romans worlds during this time, there was a movement for pro-celibacy marriages.
• Marriages that were spiritually based and did away with sex because it was so distorted at the time.
• There was a concern that Paul was teaching that all men and women should not have sexual relations.
• This was the excuse used before “I have a headache.”

2 But because sexual immorality is so common, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman should have sexual relations with her own husband.

• Sexual immorality is so common and rampant and available… there is a way to avoid it.
• Have sex with your spouse!
• If sex or even thoughts about sex, outside of your marriage, is an issue… Paul’ solution is to have sex with your spouse.

3 A husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband.

• “Marital duty”. For both the husband and the wife.
• It is both of their “duties” to fulfill their sexual desires.
• What if only one of them has the need?
• Paul says, “take care of it for them.”
• Otherwise, they are going to look elsewhere to fulfill that need and there are plenty of opportunities available.
• “likewise” means it is not a way transaction.
• Seek to please each other.

4 A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does.

• Paul is not saying “rape”.
• Paul is talking about the commitment that was made at marriage.
• One flesh… in this together.
• They share the rights of each other’s bodies… together.

5 Do not deprive one another—except when you agree for a time, to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again; otherwise, Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

• Abstain for a period of time is OK… but it needs to be talked about and agreed to by both.
• Want a good marriage… have sex OFTEN
• One of you probably wants/needs it more often than the other.
• You are only asking for trouble if you refuse to have sex with your spouse.

6 I say this as a concession, not as a command.

• He is pleading and recommending.
• Not demanding.
• As a parent to a child.

7 I wish that all people were as I am.

• Celibacy… Paul is currently single.

But each has his own gift from God, one person has this gift, another has that.

• Our desires are different because we are created different.

 
A WORD TO THE UNMARRIED
8 I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is good for them if they remain as I am.

• An encouragement to those who remain single.

9 But if they do not have self-control, they should marry, since it is better to marry than to burn with desire. [13]

• But if sex is going to control your life, you probably ought to marry someone of the opposite sex.

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 587). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 588). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[7] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 589). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[8] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[9] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 589). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[10] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[11] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 6:1–20). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[12] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[13] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 7:1–9). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.